


dust through my fingers

by FancifulRivers



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Frisk is a confused angry baby and Chara is a self help ghost, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, No Mercy Route, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 18:01:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14117874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancifulRivers/pseuds/FancifulRivers
Summary: like blood on my hands.





	dust through my fingers

_I want to reset._

Chara's voice nearly breaks your concentration, a bone grazing your leg too close for comfort. You hiss in pain, eyes narrowing in anger at the insolent skeleton standing in your way, eye oscillating yellow and blue.

 _Not now, Chara,_ you tell them, fingers tightening on the knife.  _Their_ knife, they're fond of reminding you. It's their knife, but you're the one who got them into this.

You didn't mean to. Not at first. You were startled and you were scared and it just- it just happened, and then you were sitting there, staring at a pile of dust.

It's so  _easy_ when it's dust. A human is messy. A human is blood and bones and organs. A human has to rot away, has to decompose. You hated learning that in Biology because the kids behind you kept whispering about a time they broke into a morgue and looked at the dead bodies and it made you want to throw up, but you didn't want to be  _that kid_ , so you swallowed all your nausea until lunch time.

But monsters are different. Monsters are just... Dust.

Monsters are easy to kill.

Chara tried to stop you. Chara didn't talk to you for ages after you dusted Mo- Toriel. You didn't want to, but she wouldn't get out of your way. You didn't want to stay down here, trapped underground. You  _hate_ being underground. You didn't  _want_ to- You cried until your eyelids were raw, and finally, Chara came back, but they were more subdued around you. Like they- like they were afraid of you.

You don't want people to be afraid of you.

But you know they are. Well, were. You dusted all of them, you don't even know all of their names, let alone their stories. You don't know who cried at scary stories or who liked to whisper sweet nothings to the echo flowers.

You know Sans. You know Sans loves Papyrus. You know no matter how lazy Sans looks, he loves his brother more than anything in the world.

And you killed him. You don't even know why. He believed in you. He thought you could stop. He thought he could change your mind. You  _wanted_ to change your mind, but when you told your hand to drop the knife, it...didn't.

You don't think Sans would believe you if you told him that.

 _Reset, Frisk,_ Chara repeats as your attention is drawn back to the present, as you dodge another volley of bones. You're getting tired. It's not going to be much longer until he wins this time. Asshole. You know he can't really change his frozen grin, but it feels like he's mocking you all the same.

 _Why?_ You demand, lunging at him with knife outstretched. He skips back, and you miss. Again.  _Why do you want to reset so bad?_

 _This isn't you,_ Chara says. From the corner of your eye, it's like you can see them. They look a lot like you. Messy brown hair, striped sweater, and all. But their eyes are dark, unsettling red, and their legs trail off into vapor most of the time, unless they think about it.  _I don't know what this is, but it isn't you. Or me. Please, let's just. Let's fix it._

 _There's nothing to fix,_ you insist, diving out of the way. You wince as you hit the floor, scraping your knees and palms. Blood trickles down your shins and wrists, surprisingly red. It's fascinating in a morbid sort of way. It always has been.  _We're so close. Don't you want to see what happens?_

 _No!_ Chara all but screams at you, and you wince at the mental static. It  _hurts_ when they do that.  _No,_ Chara repeats, gentler.  _I don't. And I don't think you really do either. I think you just- you got stuck in this rut, and you got scared, and you thought you had to keep going, but you_ don't _, Frisk, you can stop it._ We  _can stop it._

_I-_

The pain is overwhelming. You look down, slowly, to see a phalanx of bones protruding from your chest. Darkness overwhelms you.

The save point is bright and glowing before you. You lunge towards it, but Chara gets there first. You hate how solid they are in this space.

"No," they say, shaking their head. Their cheeks are very red. "Frisk. Please." 

You hesitate, uncurling your fingers and letting the knife clatter to the ground. Your hands are covered in dust.

"I- I'm sorry," you stammer. Your vision doubles and you realize you've started to cry. "Chara, I- What-"

"Let's reset," they say gently. "Let's do it right, okay?"

"Okay," you say, taking their hand. Their fingers are surprisingly warm for a ghost. "Can I- er-" You stop, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to apologize to Sans the instant I leave Toriel," you say firmly. "Do you think that- that maybe he can forgive me?"

Chara smiles at you. 

"I'm sure he can," they say.

The world goes black.


End file.
